Published on November 4, 2013 by Kara Kennedy  

Samford University's Brock School of Business M.B.A. program has been ranked among the "most social media friendly programs" in the U.S.   Based on data about social media presence and activity for 400 business schools, the M.B.A. program information website, OnlineMBApage.com, ranked the Brock School 21st nationally. 

"Social media is becoming an increasingly important part of every organization's marketing strategy," said Kara Kennedy, director of external affairs for the Brock School of Business, who directs the school's social media efforts.  "We continually use several social media platforms to interact with important stakeholders like prospective students and provide them information about the school." 

Rankings were based on how many times each school posted to and how many followers it had on Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube, LinkedIn, GooglePlus, Pinterest and Flickr.  With over 5,200 tweets and almost 1,400 followers at the time of the survey, the Brock School ranked 10th nationally for Twitter use.  It also ranked 16th on for GooglePlus and 19th on Pinterest activity. 

"We currently have more than two and a half times as many followers on Twitter as we have enrolled students, faculty and staff," said Barbara Cartledge, assistant dean of academic programs.  "That suggests we're using social media effectively to communicate with people inside and outside the school." 

Stanford, Harvard, the University of Pennsylvania, the University of California-Berkeley and the University of Virginia had the highest ranked social media friendly M.B.A. programs, respectively.  At number 21, the Brock School of Business was the top ranked M.B.A. program at a faith-based university (see table) and one of only two Alabama schools on the list; the University of Alabama at Birmingham was ranked 45th. 

"Social media is an important part of our school's marketing strategy and overall strategic plan," said Howard Finch, Brock School of Business dean.  "Another important part of this plan has included moving some M.B.A. courses online.  By next year, we plan to offer our entire M.B.A. degree online to serve students beyond the Birmingham market." 

For the complete list of the top 100 social media friendly schools, see bit.ly/1eAgVDa. 

Top Social Media Friendly MBA Programs at Faith-Based Universities

#21 Brock School of Business, Samford University 

#29 Hankamer School of Business, Baylor University

#41 Rubel School of Business, Bellarmine University 

#43 Graziadio School of Business and Management, Pepperdine University 

#52 Quinlan School of Business, Loyola University-Chicago 

#53 Campbell School of Business, Berry College 

#62 Mendoza College of Business, University of Notre Dame 

#68 Opus College of Business, St.Thomas University 

#90 School of Management, University of San Francisco 

Source: OnlineMBApage.com

 
Samford is a leading Christian university offering undergraduate programs grounded in the liberal arts with an array of nationally recognized graduate and professional schools. Founded in 1841, Samford is the 87th-oldest institution of higher learning in the United States. Samford enrolls 6,101 students from 45 states, Puerto Rico and 16 countries in its 10 academic schools: arts, arts and sciences, business, divinity, education, health professions, law, nursing, pharmacy and public health. Samford fields 17 athletic teams that compete in the tradition-rich Southern Conference and ranks 6th nationally for its Graduation Success Rate among all NCAA Division I schools.